After
weeks of bringing it up in class, it should come as no surprise that my
television show of choice was Here Comes
Honey Boo Boo. For those unfortunate souls who have yet to view this
amazing show, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo
follows one of the highlights of TLC’s “Toddlers and Tiaras,” six-year-old
Alana and her family during their daily routines. Alana’s father, mother, and three older
sisters are the “typical” backwoods Southern Georgia natives (according to the
TLC portrayal) who have some pretty, for lack of a better term, quirky characteristics.
For this blog post, I will look at the first season’s first episode, which, can
be found on YouTube, by the way.
The premier episode of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo needed to
re-introduce the Thompson family that America had all, supposedly, fallen in
love with from Toddlers and Tiaras.
The show also had to capture the viewers’ attention by introducing a new
dynamic to the already well-known family. The producers choose to portray the
family as one with deep, Southern values; however, the Thompson family’s values
are offset by their unusual family activities and phrases. More importantly,
the emphasis on the different characteristics between a normal American family
and the Thompson family is what increased viewer ratings. Alana, for instance,
introduced her three sisters as: Pumpkin, the craziest (Lauryn, 12); Chickadee,
the pregnantest (Anna, 17); and, Chubbs, as her bff (Jessica, 15). Furthermore, Alana’s dad is described by her
mother as the “baby daddy” and reaffirms that none of her children have the
same father. The lively introduction already sets the Thompson family as
“other” against the stereotypical Southern family of a mother, father, and 2.5
children. In addition, the family is very overweight based on a diet consisting
of soda and cheese balls. As a result, the family agrees to begin a family led
weight loss program. The dynamic of a healthy, active Southern family is
quickly replaced with the image of the redneck Thompsons.
The family activities are
also brought into question within the course of the show. For instance, the
“Redneck Games” is described as being very similar to the Olympics only with a
lot more butt crack. The viewers are given a crash course in redneck culture as
the three sisters are found diving into a mud pit and using their mouths to
pick up raw pig legs from within a bin full of water. The need for a family
weight loss program (in which, physical activity is not addressed as a possible
solution) opens up new doors for the rest of the season. The family is not following in the footsteps
of a family steeped in sports or religion (as many Northern men and women view
Southerners) due to lack of funds. The family’s low income levels involve the
girls all being more aware of their spending or wasting of money, as seen by
the cheese ball spill fiasco, but, also, involves the mother teaching each of
her daughters how they should love themselves for, well, themselves.
Although the Thompson
family is not the definition of a true American family, it is one that
illustrates the typical values that most Americans want within their home.
Alana’s mom, Shannon, insists that her family stay connected and act as one
unit, reliant on one another. So, though
many viewers could be watching the show to get a good laugh, the viewers may
find that they are learning a few things from Alana and her family instead.
–Corinne Beckinger
Having never seen the show myself, minus the short footage we've watched in class, I was stunned at the "Redneck Games." I still don't think I'm over it. However, I definitely agree with your last paragraph here. Having read a few articles discussing the show, I believe it remains a highly watched program simply because these people are truly authentic and aim to maintain strong family ties. Even though the family remains dirt poor, the family stands together as one unit.
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ReplyDeleteI cannot watch this show. I refuse. It is shows like "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" that give Southerners a terrible name. I do agree with James and Corinne, though, the family maintains strong ties and traditional values. I commend them for this because that is something that is lacking in our world today. However, it is the silliness and ignorance that all the tradition and values are wrapped in that bothers me. If this was a show televised only in the South, I really do not think it would seem as bad because it is not that big of a stretch for us down here. But being televised in the North, we are stereotyped based on the activities of this one family. It's the extremes that are televised for all the world to see, which leads me to my next point: stop interviewing this girl. Leave them alone and untouched. I may swear off television if I see Honey Boo Boo sit down with another "Dr. Drew" figure and go to sleep on television. Why can there not be a reality television show about a normal Southern family? I guess that would not sell in ratings. So until then, we have no choice but to enjoy the adventures of Honey Boo Boo and family.
ReplyDeleteWait a second, if none of the kids have the same dad, how exactly is the family sticking together? I digress. The only reason I have ever watched and will ever watch this show is purely for the high I get from laughing at the absurdity of these peoples' lives. If they enjoy their lives, that is great for them. Sure, they are authentic. That is just an excuse for me to indulge myself in guilty humor by laughing at their expense. I once knew a guy who had a pet pig, but I do not think he ever put a tutu and tiara on it. That being said, these people are definitely not the prototypical Southern family. They are overweight, poor, need better educations, and have awful manners. In a word, they are the quintessential white trash family. Dammit, I love them. Well, I do not love them. Rather, I love the high I get from laughing at their unfortunate lives. I guess someone has to live like that. Better it is them than me, I reckon. This show's only redeeming qualities are the deprecating humor and the promotion of strong family ties. It is okay for your whole family to be a bunch of overweight and lazy hicks so long as your family sticks together when the going gets tough. Honestly, TLC probably keeps this show afloat because the public backlash to canceling it would be insane. Then again, the family are obviously not putting their salary from the show to good use (i.e., becoming not dumb hicks). The moral of the story is to just be yourself, I reckon. No amount of money or fame should sway you from being your true self, even if that means being overweight and lazy.
ReplyDeleteI am one of those "unfortunate souls," who hasn't watched this tv show, but based on Corinne's blog, one can look at this show from various viewpoints. 1) This show gives a bad name to the South. 2) The Thompsons are a happy and loving family. 3) These people are insane! I prefer to view this show from the second viewpoint, but I feel like most people view it from the first and third viewpoint. The Thompsons are not afraid to act as themselves, which is rare to find on tv and in reality. "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" has potential to teach America some authentic family lessons, but the fact that this is a reality show along with their absurd behavior drives some viewers away from realizing the underlying southern values of the show.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to be another to just jump on the hate bandwagon, but I too have been repulsed by the idea of this show ever since I learned about it. I'm not going to say anything as drastic as "we're on a wide-scale cultural decline," but I do think that the existence of a show like this is not a positive step forward for Southern stereotypes at all. Thanks to this and other blips of reality television, which is hard to digest in its own right, it seems like unnecessary cultural lines are being drawn yet again in America. Maybe not to the extent that we realize, or even one that would cause for immediate alarm, but in the sense that these shows are viewed in the "reality" context and thus are giving people the wrong impression of how things really are in the South. I hold no doubts in my mind whatsoever about families of the Boo Boo ilk being alive and well in the South, but I don't see the need for this to be how we present ourselves to the rest of the world. With the safety net of character stereotypes being obliterated by the reality show format, we bypass the typical "this character is an example of what someone who lives in the South is like" and go all the way to "this is what someone who lives in the South is like." Yes, it seems like a bit of a stretch at first, but don't we all have a specific image that comes to mind when a particular area of New Jersey is referenced? I believe there was a certain reality involved in the construction of that image as well...
ReplyDeleteI agree with Michael in that this is definitely not the "positive step forward for Southern stereotypes." Unfortunately, I am afraid that people who are not from the South DO in fact think that the representation of this family is an accurate portrayal of southerners. It goes back to news broadcasts. You never witness an intellegent being on the nightly news from the South; rather, it's always the meemaw in her moomoo talking about her uncle's brother's cousin's baby and whatever seemingly tragic event that she proceeds to talk about without so much as sentence structure. This is just one of the unfortunate realities of southern stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteI find this show extremely disturbing, but I find any show that offers up a six year old for public consumption disturbing. This show continues to perpetuate the stereotypes that all Southerners are overweight and uneducated. Despite what is displayed on television there are highly educated Southerners who aren't that different from other families elsewhere. Unfortunately, that's not what the discerning television viewer wants to see. Even though Honey's mother may offer some redeeming family values, this does not do enough to offset the negative stereotypes about the South that this show projects to the wider world. This show is very discouraging and continues to show the world only one side of the South, the overweight uneducated redneck side.
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